1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a strobe camera with a flat capacitor mounting arrangement and, more particularly, to a strobe camera wherein a substantially flat strobe capacitor is releasably mounted adjacent one planar wall section of the camera in a manner restraining widthwise expansion of the capacitor which might otherwise occur during extended usage of the capacitor without initially imposing any compressive forces on the capacitor which might tend to alter the electrical characteristics thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the photographic art to utilize an electronic flash or stroboscopic source of artificial illumination when photographing under conditions of low ambient scene light intensity and to build the strobe or electronic flash into the camera. For such a high speed photographic lighting system, it has generally been required to provide a large cylindrical electrolytic storage capacitor having large capacity. However, such a large capacitor together with the other strobe circuit components is impossible to incorporate as a unit within the camera body without incurring both a substantial increase in the weight and appearance of the resulting camera.
In order to overcome this difficulty, it has been recently suggested to provide a high speed lighting system of the electronic flash type which is built into the camera by making the storage capacitor of such flat thin configuration and dimension that it may be readily mounted in back of the camera or within the camera case. Such arrangements are more fully shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,899 entitled "Flash System for a Photographic Camera" issued May 11, 1971; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,352 entitled "Camera with Detachable Speed Light Power Source" issued Sept. 15, 1970. The arrangements of the aforementioned patents are achieved principally by making the storage capacitor thin in form and built into the camera case or the back cover of the camera.
Thin, flat electrolytic storage capacitors of the above-described type may be subject to both deterioration and expansion with time, which effects should be anticipated in any arrangement for building a capacitor into the camera case. Thus, provision must be made for accommodating ready insertion and withdrawal of the capacitor from the camera case in the event that the capacitor should deteriorate to the point of failure. In addition, provision must also be made for restraining the capacitor from any widthwise expansion which might tend to occur with time while also being careful not to impose any initial compressive forces on the capacitor which might tend to change its electrical characteristics.
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide camara apparatus having an integral strobe unit built therein wherein the storage capacitor for the strobe is of a thin, flat configuration and there is provided means for stowing the storage capacitor adjacent the inside of a planar wall section of the camera in a manner accommodating ready insertion and withdrawal of the capacitor from the camera.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an arrangement for stowing a thin, flat storage capacitor within a camera of the type having an integral strobe unit associated therewith wherein the capacitor is restrained from widthwise expansion which might otherwise tend to occur with extended usage while having no initial compressive forces imposed thereon which might otherwise tend to alter its electrical characteristics.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. The invention accordingly comprises the mechanism and system possessing the construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure.